PRIORITIZING STRESS MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR KAHRAMAA CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT: ANALYTIC NETWORK PROCESS AND SUPERMATRIX APPROACHt

Stress is a ubiquitous phenomenon that has several fiscal and practical consequences on both the employees and the employers. Implementing stress management strategy in the workplace is a critical issue for leaders and managers. Studying stress and reducing its impact on employees is very helpful for organizations. The aim of this paper is to present an applicable and reliable evaluation method to assess decision makers in Kahramaa Customer Service Department to prioritize and select the most appropriate stress reduction strategy. To meet the aims and objectives of the study, the Analytical Network Process (ANP) method is used to determine the best possible strategy to reduce stress based on reliable assessment criteria that are designed to suit the case of Kahramaa Customer Service Department. The research compared the best strategy out of four different stress reduction strategies which are problem-focused strategy, emotional focused strategy, job characteristics and role ambiguity strategy, and corporate wellness program. The study focused on the prioritization of those strategies by assessing the criteria and sub-criteria of each of the dimensions used for the assessment. The criteria importance and relativity were driven by a comprehensive literature review to support the pairwise comparisons using and utilizing experts’ and scholars’ opinions. The research concluded that the most effective strategies for stress reduction are social support strategies, problem-solving strategies, HR strategies, and environmental strategies. The ANP analysis shows that the corporate wellness program is the most effective and optimal strategy for stress reduction for Kahramaa Customer Service Department employees. The corporate wellness program received the highest scores among other strategies based on the criteria selection and prioritization. The assessment criteria, the sub-criteria, and the alternatives can be altered and customized to outfit any government or semi-government organization in Qatar. This study is focused and aims to assess decision makers. Such studies are not common in the Qatari market. Qatar market is rapidly growing. The government and semi-government organizations in Qatar are racing against time to cope with modern business strategies to fulfil their role in the growing eco-system of the country. Such studies can be a simple, straightforward, and reliable approach to assess managers in government and semi-government organizations on how to improve the working conditions of their employees and reduce stress. Reducing stress is an urging matter to organizations such as Kahramaa. Employees perform better when they are not stressed. Their productivity grows, as well as their commitment, dedication, and loyalty. On the other hand, stressed employees will not be creative enough and will not be effective members in the organization. Accordingly, all organizations in Qatar that have the same problem of Kahrama can highly benefit from this study

Pre-harvest fruit drop, bunch weight and fruit quality of ‘Rothana’ and ‘Ghur’ date palm cultivars as affected by some plant growth regulators

Pre-harvest fruit drop is a serious problem of some date palm cultivars. During 2010 and 2011 seasons, the effect of plant growth regulators 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) (50 and 100 ppm), naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) (100 and 150 ppm), gibberellic acid (GA3) (100 and 150 ppm) and benzyladenine (BA) (100 and 150 ppm) applications, at 40 and 70 days after pollination, on pre-harvest fruit drop and quality of ‘Rothana’ and ‘Ghur’ dates were studied. In both cultivars, the application of growth regulators at both rates significantly decreased fruit drop. In this respect, 2,4-D and GA3 were the most effective treatments followed by BA, while NAA was the least effective. The reduction in fruit drop resulted in a higher bunch weight in the treated fruit than the control. The high rate of BA was more effective than the low rate in decreasing fruit drop of ‘Ghur’ cultivar. In ‘Rothana’ cultivar, bunch weight was higher than the control with both 2,4-D rates; whereas, with GA3 and BA, only the high rate was effective; while in ‘Ghur’ cultivar, bunch weight of all growth regulators treatments was higher than the control. The rutab percentage was lower in NAA treatments than for all the other treatments, except for control in ‘Ghur’ cultivar. Fruit and flesh weight of ‘Rothana’ cultivar were higher at the high rate of 2,4-D, the low rate of GA3 and BA treatments than in the control. There were no consistent effects for growth regulators on the physical and chemical quality characteristics of fruit, possibly due to the large variations of the fruit load among the treatments. It was concluded that under hot arid conditions, the application of growth regulators of especially 2,4-D (50 ppm) and GA3 (150 ppm) at both 40 and 70 days from pollination is recommended to reduce pre-harvest drop, and improve fruit quality of both ‘Rothana’ and ‘Ghur’ date palm cultivars.Keywords: Date palm, plant growth regulators, yield, quality, fruit drop, Phoenix dactylifera

A study of the effects of work-family conflict, family-work conflict, and work-life balance on Saudi female teachers’ performance in the public education sector with job satisfaction as a moderator

Purpose: The main objective of this paper is to investigate the effects of work-family conflict, family-work conflict, and work-life balance on female teachers in the public education sector in Saudi Arabia as well as to analyze the impact of job satisfaction as a moderator for the independent variables. Methodology: This paper is based on quantitative research methods that included a survey of employees. The constructs of work-family conflict, family-work conflict, and work-life balance were formed using the bivariate and correlation analysis done in SPSS. A scatterplot was used to identify the relationships between the moderating factor of job satisfaction with the independent variables. Finally, multiple regression was done to understand the impact of work-family conflict, family-work conflict, and work-life balance on employee performance among female Saudi teachers in the public education sector. A linear regression analysis was applied to test the research hypotheses. Findings: The results showed that there is a positive and highly significant impact on employee performance by work-life balance and job satisfaction, whereas there is a positive but not significant effect when it comes to work-family conflict. However, family-work conflict revealed a significant negative impact on employee performance

Study of The Parasites of The Local Chickens (Gallus Gallus Domisticus) in Duhok Province, Kurdistan Region-Iraq

One hundred and twenty chickens the local breed (Gallus gallus domesticus) were examined during the period from June to October 2012 in Duhok Province / Kurdistan Region of Iraq. To investigate the prevalence of ecto and endoparasites among them. The recorded parasites included: Two species of lice namely Mencanths stramineus with infestation rates of 34% and Goniocotes gallinae, with infestation rate of 0.8%. One species of soft tick, genus Aragas persicus, was also recorded, with an infestation rate of 4.1%. Whereas, the endoparasite examination revealed 16.6% from protozoa (Eimeria) and the presence of four nematodes and six cestode species, but no trematodes and blood parasites. The highest nematode infection rate was 46.6% with Subulura species, followed by Ascaridia galli with infection rate of 38.3%, Heterakis gallinarum with infection rate of 25% and, Capillaria with infection rate of 4.1%. Regarding cestodes, the recorded species included: Raillietina tetragona, R. echinobothrida, R. cesticillus, Fimbriaria fasciolari, Davainea proglottina, and  Amoebotaenia sphenoides with infection rates of 27.5%, 24.1%, 6.6%, 1.6%, 2.5%, and 0.8%, respectively

Isolation and characterisation of microorganisms contaminating herbal infusion sold in Minna, Nigeria

The microbiological assessment of ten herbal infusion samples from ten different locations in Minna, Niger State was investigated. The assessment of the microbial contamination on the herbal products was carried out, using standard methods. Pour plate method was used to cultivate serially diluted portions of the medicinal plant infusion samples. The results revealed that all the herbal preparations had the presence of microbial contaminants. The total heterotrophic counts of the different herbal samples ranged from 0 cfu/mL to 25.0 × 108cfu/mL while the total fungal counts ranged from 3.0×106cfu/mL to 3.5×108cfu/mL. The total viable bacteria counts showed that the highest counts of 25.0 × 108cfu/mL was recorded in the sample from Bosso and the least counts of 0 cfu/mL from Kasuwan-Gwari while the total fungal counts showed that the highest count of 3.5×108cfu/mL was found in the sample obtained from FUT campus and the least counts of 3.0×106cfu/mL in the sample from Mai-Kunkele. One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that there was significant difference (p<0.05) in the microbial load of the herbal infusions from each location. The microbial isolates identified were E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Shigella sp, Klebsiella sp, Pseudomonas sp, Micrococcus sp, Salmonella sp, Aspergillus sp, Penicillium sp and Saccharomyces cerevisaie. Members of the genus Aspergillus were found to be predominant. This suggests that the herbal infusion harbors microorganisms that could be hazardous to human health and hence producers should maintain the highest possible level of hygiene during the processing and packaging of the products in order to ensure safety of the products

AUGMENTED REALITY GAME THERAPY FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER

Abstract-This paper presents progress on treating children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) using Augmented Reality based games. The aim of these games is to enhance social interaction and hand-eye coordination in children with ASD thus easing them into becoming more comfortable around unfamiliar people. Colour detection and tracking and motion tracking concepts in augmented reality have been used to develop games for young children with ASD. The idea is that these games will encourage concentration and imagination from children through repetitive movement and visual feedback

Molecular interaction of 4-amino-N’-(benzoyloxy)-N-(2,4- dimethylphenyl)-1,2,5-oxadiazole-3-carboximidamide with the methotrexate binding site of human DHFR, and its implication in rheumatoid arthritis

Purpose: To identify an improved lead molecule for the human dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) inhibition that ‘sits’ in the same binding cavity as methotrexate by high throughput computationalscreening.Methods: The 3-D structure of the DHFR binding site was examined using ‘CASTp3.0’. Structure based in silico screening of about 5 million drug candidates housed in the MCULE database was performed. The obtained molecule-hits were ranked in accordance with their VINA scores, made to pass through drug-likeness filters, ΔG cut-off criterion, toxicity-checker and finally ‘zero RO5 criterion’.Results: The ‘top molecule’, namely, 4-amino-N'-(benzoyloxy)-N-(2,4-dimethylphenyl)-1,2,5-oxadiazole- 3-carboximidamide, displayed robust binding with human DHFR through 21 amino acid residues (ΔG = - 9.6 kcal/mol) while 10 of these residues were the same as those displayed by ‘methotrexate binding interactions’. It passed through relevant drug screening filters including the ‘Toxicity Checker’.Conclusion: This research work describes the molecular interaction of human DHFR with an improved lead molecule named, 4-amino- N’-(benzoyloxy)-N-(2,4-dimethylphenyl)-1,2,5-oxadiazole-3- carboximidamide, with a ΔG of -9.6 kcal/mol, thus satisfying adequate ADME features for further in vitro and in vivo validation in the context of rheumatoid arthritis. Keywords: Dihydrofolate reductase, In silico screening, Methotrexate, Rheumatoid arthritis, DHF

Identification of a putative anti-rheumatoid arthritis molecule by virtual screening

Purpose: To propose an improved chemical skeleton whose scaffolds could be used for the design of future thymidylate synthase (TS)-inhibitors against rheumatoid arthritis. Methods: The drug discovery platform, ‘MCULE’, was employed for inhibitor-screening. The ‘methotrexate-interaction site’ in the crystal (PDB ID 5X66) was used as a target. One ‘RO5 violation’ was permitted. A maximum of ‘10 rotatable bonds’ and ‘100 diverse molecules’ were also allowed in the protocol. The ‘threshold similarity cut off’ was 0.7. The input values describing the remaining parameters were kept as ‘default’. The ‘Open Babel Linear Fingerprint’ was used for the analyses of molecular descriptors, followed by ADME-check. Results: 4-(4-Methyl-1-piperazinyl)-2-phenyl[1]benzofuro[3,2-d]pyrimidine corresponding to the MCULE ID-7590816301-0-93 exhibited the overall best binding with TS. The free energy of binding was -8.6 kcal/mol. A total of 17 amino acid residues were significant for the binding interactions. Importantly, 9 residues were common to methotrexate binding. It satisfied pertinent ADME conditions. Conclusion: 4-(4-Methyl-1-piperazinyl)-2-phenyl[1]benzofuro[3,2-d]pyrimidinemay emerge as a potent seed molecule for TS-inhibitor design in the context of rheumatoid arthritis. It has satisfied pertinent ADME features. However, there is need for further wet laboratory validation. Keywords: Anti-rheumatoid arthritis, Inhibitor design, Methotrexate, Seed molecule, Thymidylate synthase, Virtual screenin

Negative refraction metamaterial with low loss property at millimeter wave spectrum

The design of the millimetre-wave (MMW) metamaterials (MMs) unit cell operates at 28 GHz is presented and numerically investigated. The proposed structure composed of a modified split ring resonator (MSRR) printed on both sides of the substrate layer. Popular MM structures such as S-shape, G-shape, and Ω-shape are adjusted to operate at the 28 GHz for comparison purpose. MSRR achieves a wide bandwidth of 1.1 GHz in comparison with its counterparts at the resonance frequency. Moreover, the proposed structure presents very low losses by providing the highest transmission coefficient, S21, at the corresponding frequency region. The radiation loss is substantially suppressed and the negativity of the constitutive parameters of the proposed MM structure is maintained. By applying the principle of the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) phenomenon, the MSRR unit cell induces opposite currents on both sides of the substrate which leads to cancelling out the scattering fields and suppresses the radiation loss. The constitutive parameters of the MM structures are retrieved using well-known retrieval algorithm. The proposed structure can be used to enhance the performance of fifth-generation (5G) antenna such as the gain and bandwidth